October, 2011

Shana tova ! Here in Jerusalem, as the new year begins, there is a sense of excitement and possibility in the air.

What are your wishes for this new year? We are often hesitant to allow ourselves to dream- to articulate what we hope for ourselves and our loved ones. And yet, allowing these wants to be acknowledged (however remote the possibility might seem for them to be realized) is an important factor in their actually becoming realized!

I’d love to hear your wants and dreams for the coming year, and invite you to share these with me.

I wish you a wonderful new year, filled with happiness, good health, precious connections with those you love, and growth that allows you to feel enriched, expanded, and fulfilled.

Using the Energy of the Season to Grow and Heal

When I first began to study Chinese medicine, I loved the idea that there is a distinct energy and unique opportunities for growth and healing for each of the different seasons of the year- and that this holds even for those who live in places where the change in seasons might not be so dramatic.

First, a bit about the philosophy of Chinese Medicine
A holistic approach to health and healing, Chinese medicine holds that illness or even simple imbalance of body, mind, and/or spirit is caused by the failure of energy to flow as it is meant to. In order to achieve optimal health, Chinese medicine seeks to remove the blockage(s) so that the body-mind-spirit is then able to heal itself.

Characterized by the harvest, and a quickening of the pace of life relative to that of summer, Autumn is represented by the metal element which comprises the lung and large intestine meridians, or energy channels. When our metal element is in balance, we experience clarity, success in communication, and an openness to new ideas. We are able to let go of that which is not needed in our lives, in order to make room for the new.

On the other hand, when the metal element is not in balance, we may be plagued with indecision, confusion, and fatigue. There may also be a sense of feeling “stuck,” or being unable to let go.

Some things that typically get in the way of moving forward in your life might include:

• clutter in your home or office;
• holding on to attitudes that no longer serve you, such as nursing a grudge;
• unresolved grief that you’ve not yet been able to fully mourn.

The good news is that there are many self-help techniques that you may use to help to bring yourself more into a state of balance in this element.

Focusing can help with this in a variety of ways. For example, Focusing can help to identify what it is that you are not yet willing to let go of. This may be the same thing that you intellectually “know” to be in the way, or it may be something you’d not even realized was an issue for you.

With Focusing we hold the attitude that there must be some good reason(s) that this place in us is not yet ready to let go. By being gentle, compassionate, and accepting of this inner place, it will gradually begin to feel safe enough to share with us what these reasons might be.

To support you in letting go at this time of year, I am offering a 30% discount on individual Guided Focusing sessions for new telephone clients through the end of October. This includes gift certificates that will be given to first time clients, too! If you’re new to Focusing, you can learn more about the process here.

Ready to learn how to access your own rich inner knowing? Please see the schedule to the right and choose a class that works for you. Then just send me an email and I’ll send you the information necessary to sign you up. If you don’t see a day/time that works for you, please let me know so that I might plan a class that will work for you!

For those who’ve completed Level One and are ready to deepen your learning of how to connect more fully with your own inner self, as well as to begin to facilitate the process for others, you can learn more about advanced classes here.

I would like to end this newsletter with a wish that you be blessed with the strength and courage to look inside, in a gentle and compassionate manner, to see more clearly what your innermost being might be ready to let go of so that you might move forward in your life in the way that is right for you.

Shana tova, v’hatima tova,

Some quotes for the season

True mastery in life is based on the ability to let go.
Lao-Tse

The body is not just a pipeline for incoming sensory data. It’s not a safe deposit box where you put something in and expect to get the same thing out.

There’s something more. the body can imply something new- a right next step. It’s more like you put a worm into a cocoon and get a butterfly back.
*******

Every bad feeling is potential energy toward a more right way of being if you give it space to move toward its rightness.

The very existence of bad feelings within you is evidence that your body knows what is wrong and what is right.
Eugene Gendlin

The pursuit of truth is a lot like picking raspberries. You miss a lot if you approach it from only one angle.
Randal Marlen

About the photo

This photo was taken by the author on the shore of the Eno River in Durham, NC. I love how the blue sky and clouds are reflected in the water.